Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
On that note, I wonder of we'll see Tom Clancy surface ITTL?
With the various German Scares, I wonder of we'll see The Hunt For Black Eagle published?
The tale of the top secret KMS Black Eagle, Germany's latest U boat, captained by Marko Raimus, a Baltic German submariner who decides to defect to the Americans with the submarine because of the terrible new weapon* the "evil" Germans have installed that renders America's nuclear deterrent irrelevant, (a handwavium infused warhead).
I'm not sure it would be the techno thriller classic it was OTL, but...
With the various German Scares, I wonder of we'll see The Hunt For Black Eagle published?
The tale of the top secret KMS Black Eagle, Germany's latest U boat, captained by Marko Raimus, a Baltic German submariner who decides to defect to the Americans with the submarine because of the terrible new weapon* the "evil" Germans have installed that renders America's nuclear deterrent irrelevant, (a handwavium infused warhead).
I'm not sure it would be the techno thriller classic it was OTL, but...
Ritchie inadvertently finds himself busting a smuggling operation by the Tijuana Cartel when he somehow notices that his car that he has tricked up upholstery is filled with cocaine.
Ritchie still has contacts with the LAPD, and should be able find a US Federal Law Enforcement agent in Tijuana and give them a heads up.
Either that or he goes to war with the DEA/INS after they decide to shred his newly finished upholstery "searching for drugs"...
Tom Clancy probably had the best timing imaginable in that The Hunt for Red October occurred at about the same time as an incident involving a Russian Sub in the Mid-Atlantic. Supposedly the CIA had a few questions much to the delight of his publisher. Unfortunately, Tom Clancy ran out of ideas after Patriot Games and basically wrote the same book 20 times.
Hey.., it pays the bills. It worked great for Barbara Cartland. I guess that he doesn't want the Nobel Prize for Litiature.
See the part that says: 'Ditto for Bas'
Malcolm has too fine a sense of self-preservation to do anything so foolish as to ask for said photo or to display it anywhere within his home, lest Margot find it. He may be getting on in age, but I'm fairly certain that he would rather not shuffle off this mortal coil because his wife smothered him in his sleep, or poisoned his food. He definitely wouldn't want his remaining days existing on a diet of his least favourite food.
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Why do I get the feeling that Ritchie could find himself somewhere in the western Pacific, possible based in the Philipines, training people and/or liaising between the locals and the Germans re: pirates?
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The counter-point of course is that his son is very much fed up with his Mother's antics and would probably happily send the copy along as the sort of petty taunting that only family can do properly.
I’m sure Sir Malcolm would appreciate a copy if only to pass through to his old mate Bert, Henrietta’s father. A photo of his grand-daughter looking relaxed, loved and surrounded by her family-of-sorts (Bas & Sprocket) is probably a far better thing than he could have imagined - even though Henny did fall in love with a German.
Although at this time, Rowan Atkinson was finishing at University and preparing for his TV career. About another year would see him on ‘Not the 9 O‘Clock News’ doing the ‘Gerald the Gorilla’ sketch with Mel Smith & Pamela Stephenson. I think this would dub well into German…
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If Ritchie is able to fix up his car the way he wants it to be, it will be very much the envy of the SoCal car world the first time it hits the street, even though there will be some who would have reservations about it as it would not be fully restored to "Original Condition".
I could see Ritchie pulling up to the Universal Studios lot in his car to visit his Producer "friend" only to find people like Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, and James Garner among others admiring the car and wanting to know all the specs on it, the fact that it was a former cop car, and it was the lead vehicle chasing Robert Blake when he crashed and died, may get him some very lucrative offers for the car.
I could see Ritchie pulling up to the Universal Studios lot in his car to visit his Producer "friend" only to find people like Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, and James Garner among others admiring the car and wanting to know all the specs on it, the fact that it was a former cop car, and it was the lead vehicle chasing Robert Blake when he crashed and died, may get him some very lucrative offers for the car.
Way too early for Hugh Laurie also. IIRC, his first TV appearance wasn't until 1983, in a series called Alfresco.
Hecatee
Donor
Actually I'm doing my PhD on technothrillers and Clancy's "origin story" is probably more complex that you'd expect... I've probably found half a novel with another author's name on the cover which may have been written by Clancy, and that other author had the means to make Clancy edited and probably the political will (and certainly the contacts) to have it emerge as it did. So while not a fan of "conspiracy theory" I'm more and more inclined to think that stupid luck and happenstance may not be enough to explain the rise of Clancy
Why would Bert need to get a copy via Sir Malcolm when he can get one from Henrietta?
Part 149, Chapter 2713
Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred Thirteen
27th August 1978
Mitte, Berlin
It was the last week of the Summer Holiday and what was she doing? Watching the dedication of a statue, that was what. This wasn’t helped by it being a muggy evening with the threat of rain which had caused delays earlier in the day. This had the effect of making it so that most of the people present were having trouble just staying awake. The men from the First Foot present looked like they were about to fall over. Mathilda felt sorry for them because she knew what they were going through. Her brother had told her all about his time in the ceremonial guard, how the summertime had been incredibly hellish with the heat and the tourists. At the moment, there was one of members of Berlin’s Landtag who was droning on about who Opa had been. He was not a great public speaker.
This was all about dedication and public unveiling of the statue of Opa along with the statue of Walter Horst. The two of them joining the ranks of other statues of the Realm’s heroes. Mathilda had seen the statue many times when it had been on display in Breslau, so there were no surprises here. Oddly, this was a repeat of the public portion of Opa’s funeral which brought back a lot of unpleasant memories. From Mathilda’s perspective the whole thing would have been far more tolerable if they had limited it to actual mourners as opposed to people who were there just to make sure he was actually dead or those who felt obligated to come because they owed Opa money. The later, more private burial had been better, but Mathilda always had what had happened there at the back of her mind. The empty sky and the meaning she had drawn from it had just been too much at that moment. Mathilda had discussed what had happened with Aunt Ilse and she had told her that the universe is a very cold place when you looked at it logically. Part of growing up is to accept that and to avoid becoming nihilistic out of despair.
If Mathilda had to guess, that was a reflection on how Aunt Ilse saw the world. She knew that Ilse had not had the easiest life. There had been a few instances that Mathilda had witnessed involving the Agoraphobia that Ilse suffered from and some of the stories of her childhood were downright disturbing. Mathilda had always thought that she had been lucky to land with the Richthofen family. That had only been because powerful people took an interest in her case and her brother’s friend Christian was the husband of Opa’s granddaughter. Apparently, there had been far worse alternatives that she had only gotten glimpses of.
With an exasperated sigh, Mathilda slouched in her chair wishing that the hard folding chair had actually been made with human contours in mind. The speaker droned on. Mathilda was starting to wish that a cane would reach out and yank him off the stage like in the American films that depicted the old Vaudeville theater when an act had overstayed its welcome on stage. It was then that there was a howl of feedback. The speaker apologized as he tried to reposition the microphone causing the stand to fall over.
As the loud “Thud!” blasted through the public address system it caused hundreds of crows who had been roosting in the trees in the park next to the watchhouse to take flight at once. This was right as the setting sun broke through the clouds, bathing the streets of Berlin in a crimson glow. That meant little to most of the people present, but to Mathilda it meant everything. She knew in her heart that the cold logic that Ilse spoke of missed so much about the world.
She just wished that this had happened sooner.
“Enjoy yourself” Mathilda whispered as she watched the crows flying in the pell-mell manner of their kind with a smile.
South China Sea, off Kuching, Borneo
Erich was getting tired of waiting for something to happen. The self-styled Pirate King whose activities had caused a response by the High Seas Fleet had gone suddenly quiet. Historically this was a common tactic used by pirates, gather in numbers, strike swiftly, and then scatter before the hammer came down. Modern communications such as radios and telephones had made that far easier. When Erich had been briefed with the other Officers they had said that they needed to assume that their presence was already known. So they were in the uncomfortable position of relying on Intelligence to ferret out where these pirates were holed up.
In the meantime, they were left waiting.
This would have been tolerable except Borneo was considered off limits to the Marine Infantry because of extremely bitter memories. During the Pacific War the 1st Marine Infantry Division along with the 5th Army Corps that had just arrived from fighting in the Soviet War had waged a savage campaign on the island against the Japanese with the civilian population caught in the middle with neither side having much regard for their survival. The victory in that campaign wasn’t considered the Marine Infantry’s proudest accomplishment during the war. It was small wonder that most of the focus was on earlier Battle of Formosa and the later Korea/Manchurian Campaign.
27th August 1978
Mitte, Berlin
It was the last week of the Summer Holiday and what was she doing? Watching the dedication of a statue, that was what. This wasn’t helped by it being a muggy evening with the threat of rain which had caused delays earlier in the day. This had the effect of making it so that most of the people present were having trouble just staying awake. The men from the First Foot present looked like they were about to fall over. Mathilda felt sorry for them because she knew what they were going through. Her brother had told her all about his time in the ceremonial guard, how the summertime had been incredibly hellish with the heat and the tourists. At the moment, there was one of members of Berlin’s Landtag who was droning on about who Opa had been. He was not a great public speaker.
This was all about dedication and public unveiling of the statue of Opa along with the statue of Walter Horst. The two of them joining the ranks of other statues of the Realm’s heroes. Mathilda had seen the statue many times when it had been on display in Breslau, so there were no surprises here. Oddly, this was a repeat of the public portion of Opa’s funeral which brought back a lot of unpleasant memories. From Mathilda’s perspective the whole thing would have been far more tolerable if they had limited it to actual mourners as opposed to people who were there just to make sure he was actually dead or those who felt obligated to come because they owed Opa money. The later, more private burial had been better, but Mathilda always had what had happened there at the back of her mind. The empty sky and the meaning she had drawn from it had just been too much at that moment. Mathilda had discussed what had happened with Aunt Ilse and she had told her that the universe is a very cold place when you looked at it logically. Part of growing up is to accept that and to avoid becoming nihilistic out of despair.
If Mathilda had to guess, that was a reflection on how Aunt Ilse saw the world. She knew that Ilse had not had the easiest life. There had been a few instances that Mathilda had witnessed involving the Agoraphobia that Ilse suffered from and some of the stories of her childhood were downright disturbing. Mathilda had always thought that she had been lucky to land with the Richthofen family. That had only been because powerful people took an interest in her case and her brother’s friend Christian was the husband of Opa’s granddaughter. Apparently, there had been far worse alternatives that she had only gotten glimpses of.
With an exasperated sigh, Mathilda slouched in her chair wishing that the hard folding chair had actually been made with human contours in mind. The speaker droned on. Mathilda was starting to wish that a cane would reach out and yank him off the stage like in the American films that depicted the old Vaudeville theater when an act had overstayed its welcome on stage. It was then that there was a howl of feedback. The speaker apologized as he tried to reposition the microphone causing the stand to fall over.
As the loud “Thud!” blasted through the public address system it caused hundreds of crows who had been roosting in the trees in the park next to the watchhouse to take flight at once. This was right as the setting sun broke through the clouds, bathing the streets of Berlin in a crimson glow. That meant little to most of the people present, but to Mathilda it meant everything. She knew in her heart that the cold logic that Ilse spoke of missed so much about the world.
She just wished that this had happened sooner.
“Enjoy yourself” Mathilda whispered as she watched the crows flying in the pell-mell manner of their kind with a smile.
South China Sea, off Kuching, Borneo
Erich was getting tired of waiting for something to happen. The self-styled Pirate King whose activities had caused a response by the High Seas Fleet had gone suddenly quiet. Historically this was a common tactic used by pirates, gather in numbers, strike swiftly, and then scatter before the hammer came down. Modern communications such as radios and telephones had made that far easier. When Erich had been briefed with the other Officers they had said that they needed to assume that their presence was already known. So they were in the uncomfortable position of relying on Intelligence to ferret out where these pirates were holed up.
In the meantime, they were left waiting.
This would have been tolerable except Borneo was considered off limits to the Marine Infantry because of extremely bitter memories. During the Pacific War the 1st Marine Infantry Division along with the 5th Army Corps that had just arrived from fighting in the Soviet War had waged a savage campaign on the island against the Japanese with the civilian population caught in the middle with neither side having much regard for their survival. The victory in that campaign wasn’t considered the Marine Infantry’s proudest accomplishment during the war. It was small wonder that most of the focus was on earlier Battle of Formosa and the later Korea/Manchurian Campaign.
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The dedication of the statue of Manfred von Richthofen marks the last act of official mourning for him, and it also reminds Mathilda why she hates the big city.
King Albrecht and Queen Ilse of Silesia should start thinking of combining an official state visit to South America, along with a visit to their properties in Argentina to get a better look on how they are being managed.
Albrecht should be very popular in Argentina as he was the Commander of the German Naval Task Force during the Patagonia War.
Would love to see the reaction of Mathilda to the steppes of Patagonia compared to the forest of Germany.
King Albrecht and Queen Ilse of Silesia should start thinking of combining an official state visit to South America, along with a visit to their properties in Argentina to get a better look on how they are being managed.
Albrecht should be very popular in Argentina as he was the Commander of the German Naval Task Force during the Patagonia War.
Would love to see the reaction of Mathilda to the steppes of Patagonia compared to the forest of Germany.